


One Day

by GoldenDaydreams



Series: Necromancy!AU [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Gen, Necromancers, Noah is RK900, Possession, RKbros, Sixty is Rhys, Teenage Rebellion, Teenagers, Witches, grimoire, seance, sibling dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22134151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenDaydreams/pseuds/GoldenDaydreams
Summary: 'One Day' is a promise, that eventually the three of them will leave this place.
Series: Necromancy!AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1319477
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	One Day

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in A Sprinkle of Magic/Necromancy AU side-stories, but with how many side-stories I have done, and continue to do, the tags were getting to be a mighty big mess, and contents of the stories vary to the point where individual one shots just made more sense.

They waited for a half hour past lights-out before they dared to creep out of bed. Amanda had spread their rooms out through the large house, calling them out in front of the coven as being ‘too co-dependent.’ Rhys had gone to bed fully dressed, which saved him some time. He pulled out his sneakers from under the bed, but didn’t put them on. 

A glance at his back-lit watch gave him another three minutes. He knew the layout of his room well, and walked out of it without touching the light. He kept his hand on the wall as he walked down the hall, carefully creeping past the rooms of two other coven members. Every breath sounded too loud, so he held his as he passed Constance’s room (crotchety old bitch was older than dirt but had the ears of bats.) 

Just as he got to the doorway leading down to the basement, it silently opened, and he could just barely see Connor illuminated only by the moonlight coming through the windows at the front door. 

Connor took the lead as they continued into the older section of the house which had survived many renovations, especially after it had been partially burned during a fire in the late 1800’s. They climbed the stairs, skipping the fourth entirely because it creaked loudly. 

Second door on the right hand side, they opened, and slipped into the room. 

Noah sat on the edge of his bed, a flashlight in hand, but the darkness of his magic dimmed it. “This is a ba-”

“Shhh!” Rhys and Connor shushed in unison, and then shot each other mischievous grins. 

Rhys just walked over to the window, and pushed it up. He leaned out, and took a look down. It would be bit of a fall, but they wouldn’t need to jump. The tree was constantly being pruned, there was no way Gerald- the old geomancer would allow for it to be cut down, but that left them thick enough branches to climb down from Noah’s window. 

Rhys put his shoes on, as his brothers came to the window. Noah kept the flashlight steady, and Rhys grabbed one of the higher branches for balance, and stuck his foot out, onto the lower branch, it bent slightly under his weight but would hold. He walked along the branch carefully until he had to crouch down to avoid another branch near the trunk. He sat down, and looked over at Connor, who now had the backpack, which he tossed into Rhys’s awaiting arms. 

Connor grabbed the flashlight and prodded their little brother, ensuring he had no way of hanging back. Noah climbed out with ease, and little concern for his personal safety, his hand hovered over the branch rather than touching it as he walked along. Noah climbed down a few branches, and held out his hands. Rhys dropped the backpack into his little brother’s arms, and looked back over at Connor who had the small flashlight in his mouth, keeping his hands free as he climbed out. 

Rhys looked down to see Noah hanging upside down off one of the lowest branches, dropping the back the last few inches before he grabbed hold of the branch and flipped off, landing with a surprising amount of grace. 

“Show off,” Rhys hissed as he climbed down, and jumped from the last branch, landing in a crouch. 

Connor was more cautious, lowering himself until his feet dangled only a few inches before dropping to the ground. He took the flashlight from his mouth, and led the way. 

As soon as they stepped into the woods behind the coven house, Noah sighed. “Why couldn’t you just want to go to the movies or something.” 

“It’s our sixteenth birthday,” Rhys said. “We’re not doing something so lame like going to the movies.”

“If Amanda finds out-”

“She won’t, right, Con?” 

“She won’t,” Connor agreed. “It’s not like she checks our rooms at night. We were quiet, and we’ll be quiet when we sneak back in. She won’t have any reason to suspect we were out for the night.” 

They stepped into the clearing, it was often used when celebrating sabbats and esbats, and there were still lingering echos of magic there so powerful even Rhys could feel it. Perhaps it was because there were so many necromancers in their coven, two of which he was bound to by blood. 

The fire pit was outlined with stones, and there was already a pile of firewood, twigs, and tinder for them to use. Rhys pulled out his lighter, setting fire to bits of bark. “Too bad we don’t have a pyromancer,” he muttered. 

It took an embarrassing amount of time for the twins to get the fire going, Noah sitting on one of the stumps situated around the pit, hands stuffed into the pocket on his black hoodie. “This is a really bad idea.” 

“No one is around to tell on us,” Rhys said.

“The dead talk,” Noah replied grimly. 

Rhys’s head whipped to Connor. “We got company?” 

Connor paused, and then slowly looked around. “No, no one is around, not alive or dead.” 

Rhys glared at his little brother, while warming his hands by the fire. “Don’t scare me like that!”

“I’m going to find sticks so we can toast those marshmallows that you have hiding that grimoire in the bottom of the bag.” 

Connor pouted. “I told you not to look inside.” 

“I didn’t, but the weight of that bag was definitely forbidden tome, not sugary treats,” Noah replied, grabbing the flashlight before he walked back to the tree line. 

Rhys kept his back to one of the stumps, staying as close to the fire as he could, watching Noah walk away. “When did he get to be such a sassy little shit?”

Connor grabbed a small twig to poke at the fire with. “I prefer the edgy teenage bullshit to the endless quiet.” 

Rhys shifted down the stump a little. They didn’t talk about the quiet. “You’re one to talk about edgy teenage bullshit,” Rhys teased. “I’ve seen your playlists.”

“You paint your nails black daily,” Connor replied. “So stuff it.” 

Rhys scoffed. “They’re ‘Cosmic Ending,’ not ‘Black.’”

“That just means there’s glitter in it.”

Rhys checked his fingernails which did sparkle a bit in the firelight. He rubbed his hands together, trying to hold onto the warmth. Autumn was leaving, Samhain celebrations already past, the nights were getting colder, longer. 

Noah returned a few minutes later with three longer sticks, passing them out. Connor unzipped the backpack, and pulled out the marshmallows, passing them to Noah, and the chocolate over to Rhys while he pulled out a sleeve of graham crackers. All of it had been collected over time, hidden away in Connor’s closet until he had it all shoved in a backpack and stored under Noah’s bed in wait. 

With the chocolate, and cracker packaging open and waiting, they stuck their marshmallows into the flame. Rhys’s almost immediately caught fire. “Aw, fuck,” he pulled it closer, blowing on it twice to get rid of the flames. He looked it over, a little scorched on the outside but it hadn’t been enough time to actually soften the center so he shoved it back in. It caught fire again. “Shit!” 

“You can’t just shove it into the fire,” Connor said. 

Rhys shoved the burnt marshmallow into his mouth to his own immediate regret. “Delicious,” he tried saying around the mouthful, but it came out garbled. 

Noah grabbed a cracker and balanced it on his knee, still keeping an eye on the marshmallow on the edge of the flames, rotating with slow patience. “So, what spell were you two thinking about?” 

“I haven’t even seen the grimoire,” Rhys said wishing they’d had the foresight to bring some water with them. “That’s for the apprentice’s eyes only.” It used to hurt, to have his twin constantly chosen over him, and yet he saw the toll it took on Connor, Rhys was the one to pick up the pieces when it all became too much. Honestly, it still hurt now and then, but he also had no desire to spend more time with Amanda and the _cold_ than necessary. 

“Have you even learned any spell work?” Noah asked looking at Connor. “Because Amanda has barely gone over basic sigils with me, which is the closest I’ve got to practical magic.”

“A bit,” Connor shrugged. “How hard can it be? The instructions are there, and we all know that like ninety percent of magic is intent.” 

Noah pulled his stick in closer, inspecting the perfect golden brown marshmallow. He placed two squares of chocolate on the one graham cracker, and used another to squish, and pull the marshmallow into place. 

Connor just took his toasted marshmallow off the stick and it went directly into his mouth. He opened his mouth to breathe. “Hot.”

“It was literally in a fire,” Noah said. “How are you so smart, and yet both so dumb?” 

Rhys grabbed a marshmallow and threw it at Noah’s head, it bounced off and rolled in the dirt. “Is there a spell to win the lottery?”

“That’s not how magic works, and you know it,” Connor replied pulling the large tome out of the backpack and balancing it on his lap. 

That was true, he knew that there were spells for money and prosperity, but they tended to be complex with herbs, and chanting, and frankly spell work in his experience came with randomized results, and the universe didn’t pay out on greed. 

“Are basic hexes in there?” Rhys could think of a few people he would like to inconvenience. 

Connor opened the book to the index, and the three brothers sat close to take a look. “There is a lot of plant stuff in here, corresponding crystals, notes about auras,” Connor said with a grimace. He flipped through some pages, stopping here and there on illustrations of plants. “Did you know that ‘eye of newt’ is just mustard seed?” 

Rhys frowned. “Well, I’ve never been so disappointed to learn something in my life.” He leaned into Connor, trying to steal his body heat. “There has to be something interesting in here if Amanda didn’t want us to read it.” 

“There is some stuff on sigils and candle magic.” 

“Boring,” Noah said, shoving a marshmallow on the stick. “Do you think we could talk to Dad?” 

The tension in Rhys’s shoulders was immediate. He had vague memories of their father, he remembered the sudden gaping absence so much more. There was anger there, it lingered in his soul. The utter abandonment, first by their father, then by their mother. 

“That might be possible,” Connor said with a touch of reluctance.

Rhys shifted as close to the fire as he dared. “I don’t think this is a good idea.” 

“You’re the one who wanted to try out some magic,” Connor replied. 

Rhys looked at the grimoire, that was proving to be more sigils, and tinctures than anything he actively wanted to try. Then again, Noah was staring at him, not the marshmallow in danger of catching fire. He groaned, and turned his attention back to the flickering flames. “Fine.”

Connor turned the pages, his eyes scanning the information. 

While this had been, at least in part, Rhys’s idea, he had his concerns now. He wasn’t in tune with the aether like Noah and Connor were. He had magic, and it was a very vital part of himself, but it was weak, as was his connection to the aether. 

Something about the large open field surrounded by trees had always left him on edge. Maybe it was the large trees, the way they swayed in the wind, the rustle of the drying fall leaves. Maybe it was knowing that generations of Stern witches had practiced their magic, celebrated sabbats and esbats here. Maybe it was just the reality that this time his twin brother was holding a grimoire they weren’t supposed to have. Maybe it was their little brother wanting to talk to their father. 

His heart raced as he hoped they failed to make a connection. 

“This one requires us to have an object of Dad’s,” Connor said, flipping the page. He skimmed over the information on the next three pages. “This one is too intricate, and requires a new moon.” 

He glanced over at his brothers, saw the way they were leaning into one another as they went through the information. “This one might work,” Noah said tapping the page. 

Rhys’s curiosity won out and he shifted closer, looking over the two pages that had a pressed sprig of sage between the pages. “It’s basically a seance,” Connor said with a small shrug. Considering that they were necromancers in a coven that had a majority of witches under that branch of magic, it was a little surprising that they had only been in attendance of one seance. “We need a candle.”

“We have a fire,” Noah said. “That’ll work fine.” 

“We’ll definitely need to cast a circle,” Rhys said, glancing at his little brother. 

Connor stuffed a marshmallow into his mouth. “Of course, we’re not idiots,” he said, although it was entirely muffled by the mouthful. 

The three of them stood, leaving the grimoire on the stump by the fire. Casting a circle was the first bit of magic that Amanda had taught them. They didn’t speak as they automatically situated themselves using the fire as the southern point of their circle. Rhys took the north point, to his left, Noah, to his right Connor. They stood far enough back from one another that they’d cast a circle of a decent size. Rhys worried about his lack of power, but kept his mouth shut. Connor, for the most part, knew what he was doing, and Noah accidentally always overcompensated anyway. 

He felt it before he saw the magic flow from his brothers. Connor was strength, but also control. His magic moved with the fluidity of smoke, soft and graceful. Noah’s magic was jagged edges, it seeped out, clawed along the ground, darkening even the light of their fire. Rhys tapped into his own power, felt it twisting within himself before softly seeping out, but remaining relatively close to his body, like a dark, sickly aura. 

He could feel it, the circle existed as much as his magic did. Perhaps plain-bloods wouldn’t feel it, but he did. They all took a step into the circle, Noah’s magic still clung, and clawed along the magical walls of their barrier. 

Rhys glanced at Connor. There was never a question as to who would lead the seance. Their coven’s apprentice, the eldest brother, the one in control. 

“I always feel stupid calling to the dead,” Connor admitted. 

Noah cocked his head to the side. “Why? They hear you just fine.” 

Rhys couldn’t see the spirits, but knew they had to have come, intrigued by the necromancer’s magic by the way Noah’s eyes kept shifting to focus on things outside of their circle. He couldn’t see the way Noah always did, and Connor could if he focused enough. Rhys tried not to be envious, and sometimes, when he saw what it did to Noah, he wasn’t. Not even a little bit. 

“Dad,” Connor said, strong, and clear. He took a deep breath. “Michael Arkay, we ask that you join us this evening.” 

A breeze came through, rattling the leaves in the trees, and Rhys crossed his arms, trying to keep warm. 

“We’ve gained a lot of attention,” Noah said softly. He didn’t appear concerned, but perhaps a little annoyed. 

The wind picked up once more, the chill cutting right through his sweater. The fire crackled loudly, snapping as some of the logs fell out of formation. He could feel the ripple through the circle. 

“This was foolish,” Noah said sharply. “Dismiss the spirits. Now, Connor!” 

The tone change from Noah startled Rhys enough that he jumped a little. 

“It’s fine,” Connor said, looking around, squinting slightly as he got used to using his sight. “I have it under control.” 

“No you don’t!” Noah snapped. “This was reckless! You’ve put you, and your brothers in danger. You three have created a strong beacon for the dead, and opened yourselves, and especially Noah to the aether.” 

Rhys froze, staring at his little brother, with the horrifying realization that it was not his little brother. 

“Dismiss them, Connor!” Noah demanded, the magic clawing along the circle, darkening it, but in what was left of the firelight he could see the trail of blood spill out of his brother’s nose, trickling over his lip unnoticed. 

“I thank, and dismiss those spirits which have joined us this evening,” Connor said, his voice shaking a little as his eyes stayed on Noah. 

Rhys took two quick steps left as a white fog of magic moved along the edges of the circle, creating a door, which Amanda walked in through. His mind was a sequence of curse words, his stomach cramped up with anxiety, and his magic was little comfort as it moved along his skin. 

She looked at them in turn. Connor, Rhys, Noah- and went to the youngest immediately, grabbing his arm, her magic pushing against his. “Leave him!” she snarled, and Rhys knew the moment Noah was free. He nearly collapsed and Amanda held him close, brushing a hand over his hair, a maternal gesture that was reserved for Noah. 

“It hurts, I want to go home, I want to go home,” Noah sobbed. 

Rhys saw the devastation upon his twins face, it mirrored how he felt. 

“We’ll get you home,” Amanda said softly. “You’ll be fine, can you walk?” 

Noah leaned back, wiped under his nose with the back of his hand, smudging the blood. “Yes.” 

She glared at the twins. “We will be having a serious discussion about your behaviour tonight. Connor, I can’t tell you how disappointed I am. I might expect these kinds of idiotic behaviours from Rhys, but not from you. You’re my apprentice, and I expect better.” 

“I’m sorry,” Connor said, looking close to crying himself. 

“Pick up the grimoire, give it the care it deserves,” she said glaring. “It’s worth a small fortune.” 

“I’m sorry,” Connor repeated. He turned toward where he’d left the grimoire only to stop suddenly, having forgotten to close the circle. Rhys could feel it, the way his own magic seeped back into his skin as Connor dismissed it before he walked over to the stump and grabbed the grimoire.

Rhys grabbed their backpack, flashlight and sweets, followed at the back. Connor had his head down, the grimoire clutched to his chest. Amanda had her arm over Noah’s shoulders. Rhys stopped at the edge of the woods, looked back at the crackling fire burning low, wondered just how many spirits still lingered. 

He knew from the way the spirit spoke that it had to have been their father who’d briefly possessed Noah to warn them of the dangers of what they were doing. And Noah had been right about speaking to the dead. Even if you didn’t see them, they heard just fine. 

“Dad,” he said softly, so the others wouldn’t hear. “Keep Noah safe from what’s in the aether. Please.” He’d already witnessed the affect the aether could have on Noah’s mental health, worried it would get worse. 

He turned back, following the distant beam of light from Amanda’s own flashlight, Connor waiting for him in the darkness of the trees. They didn’t speak. There was nothing to say in the moment that they would risk having Amanda overhear. The lecture the next day would surely be as long and brutal as their grounding. 

“How did you know?” Noah asked as they walked into the house. The bright light of the entrance way really highlighted the smear of blood on Noah’s face. 

“I could feel the disturbance of magic in a ritual space of this coven,” Amanda replied. She looked to the twins. “You two, off to bed, and stay there this time. We will be having a long discussion in the morning.” He attention then shifted to Noah, as she gently guided him away. “Let’s get your face cleaned up, I have something for the headache too.” 

Rhys was used to the blatant favouritism, but it still dug deep. What was it about him that was so unlovable that both of his parents had abandoned them, and Amanda only kept him around because he was Connor’s twin, and Noah’s brother? 

“I didn’t mean to get Noah hurt, or… possessed,” Connor said once Amanda and Noah were out of ear shot. “I did everything the book said. It should have been safe.” Connor looked vulnerable, eyes cast down. Rhys hated the look on him.

“Maybe the circle wasn’t strong enough.” _Maybe I wasn’t strong enough,_ was what he meant, but couldn’t verbalize. 

“I’ve had to cast circles hundreds of times, by myself even.” Connor shook his head. “I don’t understand. Noah should have been safe.” 

“His connection to the aether is too strong. He’s… you know.” 

Connor shook his head. “We shouldn’t have pushed him to go out, this was stupid,” Connor angrily rubbed his hands over his face, like he could scrub away the evidence of how upset he was. “We have to keep him safe, it’s our job.” 

Rhys nodded, heard it like an echo in his mind, a woman’s voice. Over and over, _keep Noah safe, look after your brothers, take care of each other._

“No more risks,” Connor said. “And one day,” he looked down the long hall, then leaned in close. “One day we leave this place. Until then, we behave, no risks, bide our time, save our money, and one day… we have a coven of our own. One day we have somewhere safe.” 

It sounded like a fantasy, but it was one he had to buy into. “One day,” he repeated. 

Connor hugged him tight. “One day.” A promise. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm now on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/DaydreamsGolden) and as per usual, I'm hanging out over at on [ Detroit: New ERA ](https://discord.gg/GqvNzUm) there’s lots of fics, and fanart, and fun, so come join us <3


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